By Jonathan Brown
WITH a membership ranging from three years old right up to 70, it’s fair to say there’s a place for everyone at Down Community JuJitsu.
Founded by Drumaness man Gerald McAlister in 1999, Down Community JuJitsu started as one club in his home village and has grown over the years to incorporate clubs in Ballynahinch, Crossgar, Newcastle and Saintfield, with ten coaches and close to 250 members.
Gerald was a hurler for Drumaness GAC and was looking for a way to stay fit during the off-season – that’s when he discovered martial arts at the age of 25.
He moved into the world of MMA, winning the Irish MMA Championship in 2000, shortly after setting up his own club in Drumaness.
It wasn’t long before Gerald expanded into the Downpatrick area, opening a second club in Crossgar a few years later.
And the growth has steadily continued over the years, with DCJJ clubs now running in Newcastle, Ballynahinch and Saintfield, offering local people of all ages the chance to learn the art of traditional JuJitsu.
Previously a carpet fitter, Gerald used to run his classes on a part-time basis, before becoming a full-time JuJitsu instructor almost 20 years ago.
Interestingly, one of Gerald’s very first students was Paul McVeigh, who became the first Irishman to win an MMA world title when he picked up the Cage Warriors bantamweight belt in 2004.
But as the DCJJ founder explained, everybody has their own reasons for training.
“Some people train because they want to learn martial arts, some people train because they’re not gym goers or they don’t play team sports, and this is a great way to get exercise.
“For me personally, I’m not a gymgoer, I don’t want to go and lift weights, it’s much nicer lifting people and throwing them on the floor!”, Gerald joked.
“We have teenagers training, we have people in their 20s training, we have a lot of girls and women training for the security of self-defence.
“Then we have people training for longevity – people who want to be fit in their older years,” he added.
The popularity of martial arts in Ireland has grown massively since Gerald first took up the discipline over 30 years ago, helped by the rise of Conor McGregor and current UFC star Ian Machado Garry.
Martial arts has many different strands, one of the most popular being traditional JuJitsu.
Unlike other martial arts like Karate or Judo, JuJitsu doesn’t restrict students to punching, kicking or throwing, it involves multiple techniques, from punching and kicking, to joint locks, throws and groundwork.
Students work their way up from White Belt, incorporating stances, falling, and fundamental techniques, all the way up to Black Belt, which indicates a mastery of all techniques – this normally takes four to six years to achieve.
Once a student reaches the Black Belt rank, they start out as a 1st Dan and have the opportunity to progress to a 10th Dan, with 10th Dan representing years of dedication to the art of JuJitsu.
Although it took Gerald, who is a 7th Dan Black Belt, many years to master his craft, he says he gets more satisfaction coaching students than he ever did from his own achievements.
“I actually get more excited when my students pass their gradings than I ever did with my own gradings.
“When they do well in a grade and you watch them progress, it’s an amazing feeling – you get a lot of satisfaction from that.
“It’s not even about the belt, it’s about the change in their personality and the people that they become, and the confidence that it gives them.”
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